Ruthie is now Rudy

People who buy chickens will sometimes have an option to pay extra for pullets, or hens.  A chick's sex can be determined with fairly good accuracy within a day of hatching. 

When we purchased our birds, I had the choice to select the sex on three of the four breeds.  The fourth group of chickens we ordered, the top hat special, was essentially five birds with fancy crests, randomly picked.  The option did not allow me to select the sex of the birds.  With this in mind, there was a possibility of getting 5 roosters.

Even before they arrived, our Top Hat Specials all got honorary names.  

Stevie was named by our daughter after a female Saddle Club book character, Stevie.  Fortunately, his name remains the same, as Stevie was the first to crow.

Amy was named after a good friend of mine.  The birds were shipped on her birthday, hence the honor.  And Amy can keep her name.  She clearly exhibits pullet qualities.

Her hair do is more rounded as are her feathers.  

Rosie is named after a chicken that my mother inherited when she bought a farmhouse.  As I have written before, my mother's Rosie was a lone chicken that occasionally laid an infertile egg, and then sat on it.  Our Rosie seems to have hair or crest issues.

She has a hard time drinking water without getting her feathers wet.  But below you can see her on a good hair day.

There may be a bit of an issue over on the right side of her head, but for the most part, she looks pretty good.


Annabeth may be a rooster, but we are not yet sure.  She behaves like a rooster, bossy, challenging many of the hens and occasionally giving Stevie a bit of trouble.  But until we hear a crow, we will continue to hope for the best. 

Here she is with Rosie.  Now that I look at the picture and see the waddles, I am pretty sure (read confident) that Annabeth will need a new name before long.  

Which leads me to the last but not least TOP HAT SPECIAL, Ruthie.  Ruthie has had a special place in this blog and in our flock.  From the start, she behaved differently, and looked unlike all the others.  On the day we picked them up at the PO, even the mail carrier commented on how different she was.

Although she acted bold, physically she had all the characteristics of a pullet.  Her crest was smooth, she was small - we thought she might be a bantam - and no apparent saddle feathers or pointy hackles.  

And of all the birds, her 12 weeks have been the most photographed.  But two weeks ago, Ruthie crowed.  Ruthie is now Rudy.  And see how the smooth crest changed overnight into the spiked punk rock look common to Polish roosters.


And now, here he is next to Annabeth

At this point, Rudy remains a non aggressive bird, and we hope that he stays that way.  At least he appears to be paying homage to the CEO of our flock. I know I began with this photo, but with that crest, and Rudy's stance, ending with it seems fitting.

Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

The second rooster

Most evenings, one or more of our neighbors stop in to watch the chickens.   By now, a clear pecking order has been established (among the chickens, not the neighbors).  But it's a complicated order, not a straight hierarchy, as I would have imagined.  Instead, it's more like a company organizational chart.  Clearly, Stevie is at the helm.  He established his place as COO early on, in the brooder, and has maintained his position with very little effort.  

 
And, like the human world, his good looks no doubt aided his meteoric rise.  

After Stevie comes a complicated web of power.  Actually, layers might be a better term, and a more relevant term as that's what most of these birds are.  Each group of breeds has their own set of rules, and each bird interacts differently with the outside breeds.  For example, Ruthie, the black crested white Polish, is very powerful outside her breed.  Her stature when confronting a large rhode island red, almost twice her size, speaks volumes about her power.

  

But within her breed, her position is mixed.  She may get picked on by Annabeth unless Stevie steps in.

 In this picture, Annabeth is trailing Ruthie, with Stevie in the foreground. If Ruthie complains about the white chicken's proximity, Stevie will step in.


Amy is outside the organizational chart, possibly a consultant.  No one picks on her.  In fact, she often has her head down, looking for something to eat.

She is the most indecisive bird in the flock.  We often pick her up when she first exits the pop door in the morning.  Otherwise she will stand on the platform slightly confused.  The other night, for some reason, she did not get on the roost with the other birds.  

I picked her up and put her with the other birds, but she hopped back down and took a spot on the nest bar.  The next night I found her up again with the other chicks.

Two nights ago, the some of the birds settled on the roosting branch we have for them in the run.  We often wondered about the second bird in from the right - named Hecate.  The bird was late to feather and had a rosy comb.  Turns out Hecate is a rooster.  He crowed a slightly weaker sound than Stevie's.  

We renamed Hecate, Morpheus.   He poses no threat to Stevie.  In the organizational chart, he resembles the pointy haired boss in the Dilbert cartoon.  He continually tries to boss the other girls around with no success.  Although given authority by nature, he has no support from the flock. He is clearly in management.


Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

First cockadoodle doo!

Recently, we started letting the chickens out into their run.  The 26' x 10' space includes a huge oak tree rimmed with rhododendrons in layers of decayed leaves, and, unknown to us, hoards of small ants.  The first ones out the door were the Barred Plymouth Rocks, always the bravest even as chicks. 
  

Next came a Rhode Island Red and an Americauna.  
Then there was a bit of excitement and the platform became crowded - sort of like the subway just before the doors open up.

 The original Barred Plymouth Rocks had lost their courage and made it back up to the platform. No one wanted to make the first move.  Then some brave chicken decided to take the first step, and they all followed suit.  All except Stevie, our rooster.  When I peeked into the pop door, Stevie was perched on the side of the brooder as though he needed to make sure everyone got out safely.

 Then he made his move.

At first it was a tentative step.

Then he waltzed down the ramp as though he owned it.  And I guess in Chicken World, he does.

The chickens immediately found the ants among the dead leaves and scratched away.

 


Now for the reason I titled this the First Cockadoodle doo - Yesterday morning, the day after their first outing, as I reached in to give them some greens, I heard a distinct, UR UR UR UR.  Granted, the voice squeaked like an adolescent boy, but the sound was clearly crowing, and it came from Stevie, standing at the highest location in the coop.

  


Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

Transfer to the coop

I haven't written in a while because I spend most of my free time out by the coop watching the birds.  The day we moved them, I worried about how they would adjust.  We moved half the brooder (dog crate!) into the house, and then carried them 6 or 7 at a time in 2 cat carriers, making 3 trips.  They all stepped out of the carriers without a glance back.

Here is the coop, before and after staining.

 
 And here are the peeps settled in

The half crate remains in the coop; the rhode island reds like to perch on the sides, and they are the shyest at this point.  I hate to disrupt their comfort level.  When we finish the run, out goes the crate.

Removing them from the house left me with mixed feelings.  On one hand, I don't miss the mess, occasional smell  just before changing the shavings, and worry about the cats sneaking in the stubborn screen door.  On the other hand, I miss seeing them all settled in, roosting on the side of the crate, small contented chirps from a few of the late night peepers.

The first night in coop, I didn't sleep very well.  I went out about 9:00pm and they were squabbling around the light I had placed in the corner.  I moved it to the center nesting box and they settled right down.  Proximity to the light means high on the pecking order, I assume.  The next night, all were up in the roost.  Subsequent nights they split half on one side and half on the other.  

 
Here they are, unsettled by my stepping up on the pop door ledge to take this photo.  This is the second night out.



Having them next to the garden means that I weed frequently.  They love the scraps and dirt I pull up.  I hate to weed, but this bonus means my garden will benefit from the treat.

Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

Lettuce stupor

If you notice the chicken just below Rosie, you'll see a piece of lettuce on the ground.  This is what's left over from the frenzy that occurs twice a day in the brooder.  I have a couple of rows of lettuce in the garden that have turned a bit bitter with age.  In the morning and afternoon, I stuff two suet cages with wet lettuce and place them at either end of the brooder.  

 

This is Anna Elizabeth taking ownership, briefly.  

 And here is a frenzy at the other end of the brooder.  In fact, the blur indicates how quickly the girls and boys move as they jockey for position.  You can just see Ruthie's white head scurrying toward the afternoon snack.

 And here is an Americauna - not sure which one, running away with a snagged treat.  She is making such a racket that in seconds, others will abandon the suet cage to give chase.  Damerow, in the Storey Guide to Chickens, calls this Tidbitting, apparently a way to shred whatever a chicken might have, making it easier to eat.

But what I find unusual is the stupor the birds seem to fall into once they finish the lettuce.  You'd think it was an afternoon drink!

In this picture, I disturbed them when I opened the door, but you can see the others peacefully roosting at the end of the brooder.

  

Close-up - note Ruthie is facing the opposite of the others.  

It's early in the afternoon for them to call it a night.  I call it the lettuce stupor, induced by the fresh afternoon treat.


Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

How it all began

 On one of our Thanksgiving trips to my brother's house, we stopped at the  Museum of American Frontier in Staunton, Virginia, just off 81, and saw our first Silver Laced Polish Rooster. Timid at first, our daughter finally stooped to feed the bird some scratch we bought at the Museum store.  He ate out of her hand.  


This was in 2002, I believe.  When we went to order the chicks this spring, an option popped out - TOP HAT SPECIALS.  How could I resist?  We had no idea what kind we would get, but we are getting a glimpse everyday of what our chicks will become.  One of them resembles a silver laced polish chick.

This is Amy when she was a couple of days old.

A week or so later.

Then some feathers grew

And pictures taken today, June 6, 2011; she'll be 4 weeks old tomorrow.

We hope she/he grows into the feathers on top!

Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

more sleeping

The chicks are now very comfortable with me reaching in the brooder, and welcome the camera as well.  This provides some comical shots.  Here is Stevie, 2 weeks old, not yet figured out how to roost, but sleeping, nonetheless:

 

 

 Note the activity beside and below her.  She sleeps through anything.

Ruthie, on the other hand, has the roost figured out:

 If you are new to this blog, I've written about Ruthie before.  She is a white crested black or blue Polish chick, and may look like this when she grows up:

By the way, I borrowed this photo from Livingscape Nursery but hope to have my own adult shot one day.  
Ruthie is tough, resilient, and happens to be the smallest chick in the flock.  This morning a Rhode Island Red (I need my daughter to tell you which one) had something in her mouth, and was running, squawking - why they squawk is a mystery, since a quiet chick can feast in peace - and Ruthie was the only chick brave enough to chase the other bird.  Let's hope Ruthie doesn't turn into Rutherford the rooster!


Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

Names

T.S. Eliot tells us that the naming of cats is a "difficult matter, it isn't just one of your holiday games." Well, with 22 chicks, we had some lively discussions about the naming of hens.  Our daughter wanted to name them after book characters and Greek goddesses.  And the Polish chicks were given honorary names.  Hence the following:

Polish chicks
Ruthie
Amy
Stevie
Annabeth
Rosie


Barred Plymouth Rocks - after Harry Potter
Harrietta
Rhonda
Jenny
Tonks
Belatrix 
Narcissa
If the 6th chick turns out to be a rooster, we will alter his name


Rhode Island Reds - named after Pretty Little Liars
Aria
Hannah
Alison
Emily
Spenser
And we were given an extra chick that may be a rooster - Toby

Americaunas, named after Greek Goddesses
Hera
Artemis
Iris
Demeter
Lou - we know Lou is not a Greek Goddess, but she was named when we thought she might be a polish chick.  She is lovely, all white, with angelic wings.
 




Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

Chicken lingo

I continue to be surprised at how much chicken language has made it into our everyday lexicon.  Some examples:
Hackles
Cooped up
Waddle
Chick
Mother hen
chicken out

I am sure there are plenty more.
 

Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

Sleeping chicks

Reading the forum about transitioning chicks to a coop from a brooder is like reading a forum discussion on getting children to sleep.  There is the Farber method where you just put the chicks in the coop, turn off the light, let them squabble a bit, and then they settle down.  For some of us, though, we anthropomorphize our babies and need to feel as though they feel safe.  I saw all sorts of suggestions, from night lights, timers, solar powered lights that dim.  

And who knew that a chicken can fall off the roost?  Nightmare for me, indeed!

Baby Chicks doze off where ever they stand.  Then settle down to sleeping on the ground


 

Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens